The second group...

The second group, on the other hand, rose to face the first group and went to the other end of extremity by denying all the spiritual stages and divine secrets, and rejected all affairs, except the mere external appearance and the superficial form, alleging that everything else is nothing but imagination and fancy. These two groups are still in dispute and argument, each one accusing the other of being against the sharī'ah .

In fact, both groups have somewhat exceeded the limits and they have gone to the extremes. In my Sirr as-Salat I have referred to this point, and I show, here, a moderate and middle way, which is the straight path. It should be noted that the formal rituals and the external worships are not only for acquiring perfect spiritual characters and cordial truths, but that is actually one of their fruits. To the people of…